Both the Maysora and the Hereford Express have been attacked by pirates, but the Australian exporters have no problem with sending the shiploads of misery through pirate infested seas to Middle Eastern war zones

MUSCAT: Somali pirates have released the Indian-flagged Savina Al-Salaam and its 16-member crew without ransom on Thursday, according to maritime security forces and Somalian media reports.

The Indian-flagged Savina Al-Salaam was hijacked by the pirates near Bosaso port in Somalia on Tuesday. The boat was carrying livestock from Bosaso to Oman when the armed pirates attacked it.

According to local media reports, the pirates have released the boat late on Thursday. The ship is now heading towards Oman.

“The captain of the boat contacted me and told that the pirates had left the boat. There was no ransom paid. We didn’t even hear from the pirates when they hijacked the baot, we were looking for the boat and apparently the pirates abandoned it, thanks to the Almighty,” a representative of the owners who lives in Puntland, told Somalia Report.

It is unclear why the pirates abandoned the boat, but it seems that they were not expecting a ship carrying livestock.The ship had 16 Indians on board and four Somali passengers who had Omani visas.

“The boat was carrying 3,620 heads of livestock, but it appears the pirates thought that it was carrying only goods — so they though to use to mount attacks from – but they didn’t want to deal with the livestock, which I think is why the pirates released this boat,” the representative of the owners said.

A pirate told Somalia Report that the hijackers found the boat too heavy to use as a mother ship for launching attacks.“This group is from Bari region and they are still looking for a boat to use as a mother ship,” the pirate added.

Bigger transport shipsSomali pirates often hijack commercial and fishing boats from which to launch attacks on bigger transport ships. The group of pirates based in Bari region are mostly from the clans of Ali Saleban, Siwaaqroon, Cisman Mohamoud and Ali jibraahiil (sub-clans of Majeerteen), as well as the Warsengli (Darood clan) and Dishiishe (Darood clan).

Savina Al-Salaam will be the first commercial boat to be hijacked this year. On December 18, pirates seized an Indian boat loaded with charcoal, along with 12 crew, all of them Indian, while it sailed from Kismaayo Port towards the UnitedArab Emirates. http://www.timesofoman.com/innercat.asp?detail=53358